UK pledges additional £200 mn to WHO, other charities to help stop second Coronavirus wave

The United Kingdom announced on Sunday that it was pledging an additional sum of £ 200 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other charities to help slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus in vulnerable countries. The amount is aimed at accelerating the response efforts to stem the second-wave of COVID-19 resurgence across the nations worldwide which has killed more than 108, 994 people globally. 

The United Nations' (UN) agencies such as WHO, Red Cross, and Charities in the homeland and overseas are among the organisations the government donated an additional package of £ 200 million funds under the UK aid scheme, International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement. The funds will be implemented to ramp up the healthcare systems, she added. Therefore, the total funds pledged by the UK in the fight against COVID-19 have reached £ 744 million, Trevelyan said.

As per the release, "A package of £200 million will back UK charities and international organizations to help reduce mass infections in developing countries which often lack the healthcare systems to track and halt the virus."

"The new UK aid announced today includes £130 million for UN agencies in response to their urgent appeal for support. Of this, £65 million will go to the World Health Organization (WHO) which is coordinating international efforts to end the pandemic sooner," the statement read.

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UK's hand of help to weaker economies

According to the release, at least 80 per cent of the population in nations with weaker economies like Yemen are in need of medical assistance to overcome the crisis. Only 50 percent of healthcare facilities across the third-world nations were operational against the COVID-19 pandemic treatment. Therefore, a further £ 50 million of £ 200 million relief package was required to support the Red Cross in war-torn nations, and an additional £ 20 million will go to NGOs dealing with the crisis.

Trevelyan said, "While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we're deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK." 

The UK has already pledged £ 250 million aid to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to speed up the research on Coronavirus vaccine. 

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